"Gone how?" I asked calmly. "Did they take it?"
He immediately shook his head. "Nah."
"So where the fuck it go then?"
"I don't know."
That was the wrong answer for me and he should’ve known that. I rubbed my beard before leaning forward once again, resting my forearms on my knees. "Slow down," I told him. "Start from where you know, not from where you guessing."
Marv let out a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes for a second. "When I left the warehouse, the money was on me inside the hoodie. You know, how we stitch out the hidden spot. When they started shooting," He paused again, rubbing the side of his head. "That's where everything got fucked up. I’ve been trying to remember."
"Take your time then," I told him. It was a difference between if somebody was trying to kill him, rob him, or bring me out of retirement, which I had no intentions on doing, but stealing from my blood was like stealing from me.
"I remember feeling the money still there."
"You sure?"
"I'm almost positive." He looked irritated with himself. "I remember feeling along the lining because I wasn't about to lose fifty bands, ain’t no way.”
Kev nodded from the chair beside him. "Yep, that sound like you."
"It is me." Marv looked over at him before turning back to me. "After that... I got hit. I remember my shoulder burning like a muhfucka and then my torso. I remember losing control of the wheel and crashing. After that…" He shook his head slowly. "I don't know what the hell happened."
Mike finally pushed himself off the wall and walked closer to the bed. "So when you woke up in the hospital…"
Marv cut him off before he could finish. "That shit was still there but now, the money ain’t nowhere to be found. I asked every fucking body.” Marv sarcastically laughed and it was one of those laughs that meant he was ready to kill somebody. "They told me everything they received from EMS was logged into mybelongings. My chain was there, my watch was there, my wallet was there, even my Glock was there." He stopped for a second, letting that sink in. “The hoodie was there but where the money was stashed in the hoodie, that shit was gone."
I remained calm while pushing that killer instinct back deep down inside of me. Hell, fifty thousand dollars wasn't gone change my life one way or the other, however it was the principle. Somebody had touched something that belonged to my family and Marv better ad figured out who. I guarantee they wouldn’t touch shit else that didn’t belong to them when got done. On top of that, we had even a bigger problem, somebody tried to take his life, and that needed to be figured out too. In the midst of the convo, I received three emails back-to-back from my assistant with ten different people inquiring about my services, but we all knew more money meant more problems that wasn’t shit to a boss.
CHAPTER 9
Navy ‘Nay’ Prescott
The vibration from my phone against the nightstand was the first thing that woke me up. I reached for it before I even opened my eyes, already knowing what it was. The furniture company had sent another reminder overnight confirming my delivery window for today, and just seeing the notification sitting on my screen was enough to make a smile spread across my face. Lord... today was finally the day.
After weeks of sneaking around, lying through my teeth, signing paperwork behind Rome's back, and praying nothing fell through, I was officially moving into my shit today! My apartment wasn't just sitting there empty anymore either. By the end of the day, it'd have a bedroom set, a living room, a dining room, televisions, dishes, towels and everything else I'd picked out for myself. Everything inside those four walls would belong to me, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't decorating somebody else's life. I was building my own.
The smile faded the second I heard Rome's heavy ass footsteps moving around downstairs. Cabinet doors opened andclosed one after another before the microwave beeped, followed by the sounds of T.I’s latest hit ‘Let Em Know’ playing low through the Bluetooth speaker he insisted on carrying from room to room. Just like that, reality came crashing back in. I wasn't in my apartment yet. I was still here, sleeping in the same house. Still pretending every kiss, every conversation, every time we had sex, and every ‘I love you’ wasn't part of an exit plan he'd never see coming, or maybe he did with his nosey ass.
I rolled out of bed and stretched before making my way to the bathroom. While brushing my teeth, I caught myself smiling at my reflection all over again. I looked lighter in spirit overall and as the days went by, the less terrible I felt about that damn money. I pulled my hair into a neat ponytail, slipped into a pair of biker shorts and an oversized T-shirt, then glanced at my phone one more time to check the delivery window before heading downstairs. Everything was still on schedule. The smell of turkey bacon and banana pancakes hit me before I even reached the kitchen.
Rome stood at the stove flipping pancakes like we were living inside one of those happy little family commercials wearing his basketball shorts hung low on his waist, shirtless, and his chain glistening around his neck while he nodded his head to the music. If somebody walked through that front door right now, they'd swear he was the perfect man. They'd never guess this was the same person who wanted to control every damn thing and then make me feel like I’m the problem.
He looked over his shoulder when he heard my footsteps and smiled. "There go wifey."
"I've been up all of two minutes," I laughed, forcing my voice to sound as easy as my smile.
"Good baby, cause you right on time." He pointed the spatula toward the table. "Sit down breakfast almost done."
I pulled out a chair and sat down, praying today would be one of the days he stayed distracted enough not to pay too much attention to me. I still had to figure out how I was going to slip away long enough to meet the furniture delivery without raising any suspicions, and knowing Rome, he wasn't about to make that easy.
Rome slid my plate across the table before taking the seat across from me. The pancakes were still steaming, and the smell of butter mixed with the turkey bacon that had just come out the skillet. He reached for the syrup first, pouring way more than anybody needed before finally looking up at me. He wasn't smiling as hard as he was a few minutes ago. Instead, he watched me the same way he'd done for years whenever he thought I wasn't telling him something.
"I don’t know Nay; it’s something up with you and I’m gon’ figure it out."
I looked up from cutting my pancakes and forced myself to shrug like his words hadn't landed exactly where he intended them to. "How Rome?"
"I don't know." He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his beard while he studied me harder. "Just... different."
